You can usually find the canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce in the Mexican foods aisle. In a pinch, you could substitute 1 teaspoon chili powder, although you’ll miss the smoky heat from the chiles.

Ingredients

3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 onion, minced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

3 tablespoons heavy cream

10 ounces thinly sliced deli ham, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

6 large eggs

Directions

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon oil, salt and pepper. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting microwave-safe lid and microwave for about 6 minutes, until the potatoes are tender but not overcooked – they’ll cook a bit more in the skillet later. Stir the potatoes halfway through cooking. Drain the potatoes of any excess liquid and set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is hot and rippling. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the chipotle and cook for about 30 seconds.

Stir in the drained potatoes and the cream. Using the back of a spatula, pack the potatoes into the pan, pressing them into a somewhat even layer. Let the potatoes cook without stirring them for about 2 minutes so they can start to get nicely browned. Flip the potato hash mixture, one portion at a time, and lightly repack into the skillet to let the potatoes brown on the other side. Continue this flipping process every few minutes until the potatoes are nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes.

Stir in the ham and lightly repack the hash into the skillet. Using a large spoon, make 6 shallow divots about 2 inches wide in the surface of the potato mixture. Crack one egg into each indentation. Season with salt and pepper and then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the skillet. Let the mixture cook until the eggs are set to your liking, about 5-7 minutes. Serve.

39 Responses to Ham and Sweet Potato Hash

Gorgeous photo, Melanie! I love the vibrant colors! I should not visit your blog before I have eaten breakfast, because I want this right now and I don’t have the ingredients and that means I will be craving this all day! 🙂

This looks like a great fall breakfast/dinner 🙂 I wonder…what size skillet did you use? I always have a hard time browning potatoes in mine and I’m starting suspect that I’m steaming them because my skillet is too small for the amount of potatoes I need to cook.

Amy – I always use my 12-inch nonstick skillet. I agree with you, too small of a skillet and the potatoes will steam instead of crisping up. That’s the same philosophy for stir-frying chicken and other meats. I use my 12-inch for almost everything.

I want to try and make this without the cream…(child on a dairy-free diet here). If I replaced the heavy cream with some other kind of milk would it ruin the recipe or do you think it would be okay? I really want to make this! LOVE your website. I made your Asian Lettuce Wraps the other night and my husband told me I need to make those again, He loved them! He’s so hard to please. Thank you for all your yummy recipes!

Linda – if I were you, I would just leave out the heavy cream. It will make the dish a bit less silky and creamy (obviously) but I don’t know that there is a great substitution and it would probably taste just great without it. (Glad you liked the lettuce wraps, by the way!)

Made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! Had to substitute sausage for ham ‘cuz that is what I had…and I had to leave the eggs out of the batch since my stomach doesn’t like them…but I made scrambled eggs for my husband and added to his…it was such a huge hit we ate the leftovers again tonight only as breakfast burritos. Thanks, love your website!

queenann – chipotles in adobo are funny creatures. Some people hate them, some like just a tad and then there are others like your hubby who wants a lot of them in every bite! To each his own, I guess – but I’m glad overall you both liked this dish!

Just made this for dinner tonight. I was in a hurry, so I did a lot of substitutions…I had leftover baked sweet potatoes, so I didn’t microwave them, just browned them with the other potatoes. Didn’t have any red peppers, so I did green, and I didn’t have any chiles, so I did the 1 tsp of chili powder, and 1 tsp of Adobo seasoning, some random spice my mom gave me. I also used whole milk instead of the cream…It tasted really good! Thanks!

We’re making this again this week, it’ll be something like the bazillianth time we’ve had it for dinner since you’ve posted it. I don’t eat eggs so I leave them out and cook them sunny side up on the side for The Hubs. DD usually wants a boiled egg on the side too, instead of on top. And by the way, a little holandaise on top, once its plated, is absolutely devine!

I have been wanting to make this recipe for the longest time. I finally did it last week! It was wonderful and everyone ate it–except for the two year old, but I’ll keep trying. I finally made the refrigerator bran muffins too. Fantastic! They have been a wonderful after school snack. Thanks so much for the great recipes!

This is one of my family’s favourite dinners when there is ham to be used up. I usually make the eggs on the side, or just leave them out. I don’t use the hot sauce, and I substitute lactose free milk for the cream. A beautiful blend of sweet and salty, and so easy to make. I use my biggest teflon pan, and there’s never any leftovers.

Whoa girl. Um yum. I’ve had this on my plans to make for a while and we finally had it for dinner tonight. It was delicious. Thank you so much! I just love your site so so much. Everything I make comes from you. You’re referred to on a fist name basis I around here, just like we’re pals.

My husband and I made this for dinner last night and LOVED it! But we always love your recipes.

Only problem: I’m now sitting with 3/4 a can of chipotle chiles and I don’t know what to do with them. Do you have any other recipes that call for them or do you know how long before they’d go bad? (right now, they’re sitting in a tuperware bowl in my fridge)

I have a few others that use them, like these Chiptole Chicken Skewers, or these Chicken Tacos; but they also freeze great. I usually freeze one or two with a bit of the sauce in small ziploc bags and pull them out for recipes (since usually a recipe only calls for a small amount and not a whole can).

This is a fantastic recipe! I sort of made it last minute, so I made some changes based on what I had on hand. That meant using only sweet potatoes and omitting the red pepper and cream. I also used cubed ham. I made this over the weekend, so my husband I could heat it up for breakfast during the week. I just made the hash part and cooked up eggs separately as needed. My husband deemed it “awesome” and told me several times how much he enjoyed the recipe. It’s only halfway through the week and I’m making another batch!

Also, I had used my cast iron skillet to cook some bacon so I drained some of the fat and cooked it up in the same pan. I won’t be doing that every time, but it was definitely yummy that way. 🙂

Thanks for a great recipe! I searched for something to use up leftover Christmas ham and baked sweet potato, and stumbled across this gem. So good!
I had to make a few changes since the goal was to use up leftovers not buy new ones, but the results were amazing! i used red potatoes instead of russets, a pre baked sweet potato, and leftover baked ham chunks. Since we were sharing the meal with some serious spice wimps, I reduced the chili powder. And I added a tablespoon of minced garlic to the red peppers because, well, I love garlic! Everybody loved this, from the littles to the grands. The next day we tossed the leftovers into warmed corn tortillas- so yum!!! we will definitely be making this again!! Now I’m so excited to see what other deliciousness you have on your site!!